How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 224: 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 (6)

 

Seeing such an unfavorable situation, Johan headed towards Lebuten, but when he arrived near the city, the scene that welcomed him was quite peculiar.

It was the height of prosperity and thriving.

On the river crossing the city, water transportation was busily ongoing, and in the distant horizons above the forests, countless carts were laboriously rolling out.

This was on the scale that could only be seen in Vynashchtym. Even if other cities were prosperous, they could not showcase this level of scale.

“My, it’s like the imperial court.”

Suetlg seemed to think similarly as he murmured. The imperial court where the Holy Empire’s emperor stayed was not fixed.

The emperor would lead his vassals and move from city to city, or castle to castle. It was a kind of mobile imperial palace.

Naturally, wherever the emperor stayed became crowded with the emperor and his vassals, lower aristocrats who had come to visit, vassals who had come to pay their respects, merchants who had gathered to offer what they desired, and so on.

Lebuten currently looked just like that.

“It probably isn’t the emperor, what do you think it is?”

“It looks like the Elf King brought quite a lot of his vassals.”

Unlike Johan, an eccentric noble who would shoulder his soldiers and live frugally, trying to end the battle as swiftly as possible when on a campaign, most nobles would try to maintain their usual lifestyle even when participating in a war.

Even when leading an army, they would bring servants, slaves, excellent chefs and musicians, beauticians and so on to uphold their dignity.

While it looked extravagant and debauched to Johan, it was incomprehensible to the nobles’ perspective.

Being a noble was not proven simply through titles alone. It had to be demonstrated through various aspects like lineage, behavior, and so on.

If they acted the same as commoners, how could the two be distinguished?

“With just the Elf King, it wouldn’t be this much. There are probably other feudal lords too.”

“That’s likely.”

Suetlg agreed as well. Since other major feudal lords had also joined the alliance, it was not strange for them to be staying around here.

To feed and sustain the many nobles, and the soldiers that numbered several dozen times more, this area was bustling hotly.

“Even so, is it okay for them to be so nonchalant after losing in battle?”

“It’s not like they can wallow in grief and despair to mourn.”

That was certainly true. If they despaired after losing one battle, even nobles who had no thoughts of betrayal might start pondering betrayal.

Besides, the situation was not so hopeless. Nobles who had retreated from the previous battle were returning with their troops, and feudal lords were hiring new mercenaries.

Johan suddenly realized.

‘𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵.’

If it were Johan, after losing a battle he would have burned the fields, poisoned the wells, brought mercenaries and went rogue as a robber, but feudal lords of this scale would not have done that.

Even if they did, they could just pay compensation or at worst, pay weregild.

“Go and say that Count Yeats came from the south with other nobles.”

“Yes!”

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If Johan had been a knight, he would have only needed to bring a few servants with him to kneel and pay his respects before the Elf King or a feudal lord, but Johan was no longer of such status.

There were customs befitting one’s position and dignity that Johan had to follow.

Even if Johan himself wanted to act with more ease, the other nobles accompanying him would have objected. It was also a matter of saving face for them.

“Three days from now. I understand.”

It would take at least three days to finish preparations to welcome the count who had come seeking an alliance. Johan nodded. Pushing them to hurry here would not change anything.

“Would it not be best to greet Caccia-gong first?”

“You are most certainly a knight.”

It was meant as an attempt to deal with a nuisance, but the Jarpen family’s knights looked at him with admiration. Johan did not bother to correct them and simply urged them to get moving.

To be honest, once she was out of the way he felt much more at ease.

“While it would be good to meet and greet them first, I can’t say I really recommend it. Nothing good will come of it.”

“I know.”

Johan considered meeting first with nobles he was friendly with to exchange information and gather intel, but held back on Suetlg’s advice.

While sending a servant to exchange letters or pass along a message would be fine, it could seem odd for a nobleman to personally seek out others before even being formally welcomed.

He was told he could secretly meet under the cover of night, but he did not want to take on that risk. . .

“Your excellency, there are some who wish to meet you. What should I tell them?”

“Ah. Let them in.”

And there were many ways to hear about the situation without meeting the nobles directly.

Many people wanted to meet the newly arrived southern count, including merchants, knights, wizards, and more. While those unbefitting his status could be turned away, Johan allowed them in. Any information had value.

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The temporary court of the young Elf King was boisterous. Not only because of the arrival of Count Yeats, but also because the knights who had set out on the journey had returned.

The rumor that they had brought back the heart of a basilisk quickly spread. Even the most insignificant slaves were murmuring and glancing with expectant eyes.

“Brave and honorable knights. Knights who face the cold dew in the farthest place from the castle, aiming their spears. Knights who draw their swords when their spears break, and draw their daggers when their swords break. Welcome the return of the knights!”

The knights walked forward arrogantly and proudly. They deserved it.

As the heart of the basilisk revealed itself with a thud, the surroundings fell silent.

“Isn’t it great? What do you think, Your Excellency?”

“Indeed it is.”

Count Jarpen suppressed his annoyance and nodded. The Elf King’s question about whether it was great or not was not about the heart of the basilisk. He was asking about the Elven knights.

The nobles of the western Empire, whether they liked it or not, had a lot to do with the elves of the kingdom. Naturally, the count was also bound to know the elves well.

The young Elf King was neither a bad nor despicable person, but he was an elf. Even the most patient person would get tired of hearing praise for the elves’ etiquette once a day.

He saw the other nobles also smiling bitterly beside him.

━𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨? 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝.

After concluding the ceremony, the Elf King called the knights separately. It was to hear the details and record them. The Empire nobles stayed in their seats for propriety’s sake, although they were bored.

In fact, they were a little curious. Basilisk hunting was not a common occurrence.

After chattering for half an hour about the elven ancestors, their ancestor’s ancestors, the beauty of the oak tree in the corner of the fiefdom, and yet the heart of the knight who set out on the expedition, the story finally began.

“. . .and there we met some extremely rude dwarves.”

“You didn’t happen to get help from those dwarves do you!”

The Elf King shrieked. The Empire nobles on the side were slightly excited.

What kind of expression would this young king make if he said he got the help of dwarves?

“Of course the dwarves were no help at all. Aren’t those guys lazy and slow?”

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.’

The dwarven nobles of the Empire had not come to such an occasion. Even if they had come, Count Jarpen would have stopped them.

While the dwarves of the mountain range would have been furious at these words, the elven knights sincerely believed so.

“Instead, it was the young Count Yeats who was active.”

“Why was Count Yeats there in the first place?”

“It was because those evil and greedy dwarf guys had trapped and imprisoned nobles from the south in a trap.”

“Ha! That’s the kind of thing they’re always up to.”

“The young Count rushed alone into the dwarven camp. The dwarves were so ashamed of his bravery that they couldn’t lift their heads.”

“That is indeed a believable story!”

Count Jarpen felt something was strange. The dwarves of the mountain range were not such easy pushovers.

They were not reckless enough to ignore the situation and be violent, but they were not so spineless as to endure insults either.

“After the Count’s rebuke, the dwarves realized how ashamed they should be of what they were doing, and swore not to interfere with the basilisk hunt.”

“Did they keep that oath?”

“Surprisingly, they did, Your Majesty.”

“Sometimes even the oldest hound catches a rabbit.”

“Calling them the oldest hound is indeed an astute observation, Your Majesty. Because the dwarves’ mistakes did not end there yet. Amazingly, it was because these dwarves failed to stand guard that the basilisk kidnapped our own in the middle of the night!”

“What! Are there such clumsy, fat dunces?!”

“Did the basilisk kidnap someone?”

A baron who had been quietly listening couldn’t help but blurt out. It was so different from what he knew. Count Jarpen smiled wryly and glanced at him as if to ask why he said that. The baron made a small apology gesture.

“That’s a very good point, your excellency. It’s very rare for a basilisk to do this. What could be the reason?”

“. . .could it be that it fears the knights?”

The baron asked a pointless question thinking his excellency would see it as such.

“A good guess but wrong. It fears the young count.”

The Empire nobles stirred in surprise. They wondered if the elves had eaten something weird.

Or did Count Yeats become an elf when Sir Lauren wasn’t looking?

“The count? Wasn’t the captured killed?”

“Your Majesty, Sir Lauren shared a deep friendship with the count. The count refused to leave while his friend fought the monster.”

“As a knight should!”

“The count even persuaded the dwarves to join the hunt.”

“Ah, that was a mistake. They would have only gotten in the way.”

“Maybe he intended to use them as bait. In any case, we found the cave where the creature lived. What do you think happened next, Your Majesty?”

Count Puakonyu smiled faintly as he asked. The young king listened intently then snapped out of it to guess.

“They would have blocked the entrance and smoked it out.”

“The dwarves would have dug pits and traps.”

The Empire nobles who came with no expectations also joined in the speculation. Stories like these were quite entertaining.

“The count took off all his armor and entered the cave naked to save his friend.”

“???!”

Count Jarpen was startled mid-listen.

That was beyond courage and into recklessness.

Was the count that extreme?

‘. . .𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰.’

He had forgotten because of the composure the count usually showed. But didn’t he grab and tear off a troll’s arm? What Sir Lauren thought was Johan’s facade could be his true nature. No way to know for sure.

“The count had wizards under his command. The philosopher of the Ipaël River aided him, and his disciple, though one, had considerable skill.”

“I’ve heard of the river philosopher. Wise as expected, he saw the count’s fate as a knight.”

“With their magic, the count safely rescued his captured knight. Oh, and there was a dwarf too.”

“What’s important about that?”

The Elf King waved his hand as if annoyed. As if to say exclude such unimportant things.

“Robbed of its prey, the wicked monster hatched a cunning plot. It dug through the ground and appeared from behind.”

“?”

“But the count had anticipated its move! It lost its malicious eye to the count’s strike.”

“??”

“Badly injured, it tried to flee but the count caught it. He seized it and dragged it out violently.”

“???”

“Wait. . . Just a moment. . .”

Even the Elf King who had listened quietly stopped the story. He wondered if these knights were mocking the young count.

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“My orc friends. My wisest and most sagacious friends. Please, have a seat!”

Johan himself brought chairs before the orcs. The orcs were astonished and cautiously took their seats. It was extremely rare for a feudal lord like Johan to show such courtesy.

They’ve heard a lot from the Alarhim clan, but the didn’t really expect this.

The orcs exchanged glances and decided to ask bluntly. They wanted to grant the count’s request if possible.

“Your excellency. . .How much gold do you require?”

“I don’t particularly need financial assistance.”

“. . .?!”